II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1597 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the Secretary of 

the Treasury and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration 

to disclose certain return information related to identity theft, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit 

the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner 

of the Social Security Administration to disclose certain 

return information related to identity theft, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Iden5 tity Defense Act of 2017’’. 


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•S 1597 IS

1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN RETURN INFORMATION 

2 WITH RESPECT TO IDENTITY THEFT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (l) of section 6103 of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

7 IN CERTAIN CASES OF IDENTITY THEFT.—If the 

8 Secretary has reason to believe that there has been 

9 a fraudulent use of a social security account number 

10 on a statement described in section 6051, the Sec11 retary shall disclose to the individual who was validly 

12 assigned such social security account number— 

13 ‘‘(A) that the Secretary has reason to be14 lieve that the social security account number as15 signed to such individual has been fraudulently 

16 used in the employment context, and 

17 ‘‘(B) such other information (other than 

18 return information) as the Secretary deter19 mines, in consultation with the Federal Trade 

20 Commission, would be helpful and appropriate 

21 to provide to a victim of identity theft.’’. 

22 (b) PREVENTION OF IDENTITY THEFT.—In the case 

23 of an employee for whom the Commissioner of Social Se24 curity has reason to believe that the social security number 

25 included on any statement described in section 6051(a) 

26 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to such 


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1 employee is not the correct social security number for such 

2 employee, the Commissioner shall provide notification to 

3 the employer of such employee which includes— 

4 (1) the name of the employee and the social se5 curity number included on such statements; and 

6 (2) relevant information regarding the avail7 ability of the Social Security Number Verification 

8 Service for verification of social security numbers. 

9 SEC. 3. PENALTIES FOR TAX-RELATED IDENTITY THEFT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1028A(c) of title 18, 

11 United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 

13 (11) as paragraphs (10) through (13), respectively; 

14 and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol16 lowing new paragraphs: 

17 ‘‘(8) section 286 (relating to conspiracy to de18 fraud the government with respect to claims), sec19 tion 287 (relating to false, fictitious, or fraudulent 

20 claims), section 371 (relating to conspiracy to com21 mit an offense or to defraud the United States), sec22 tion 1001 (relating to statements or entries), section 

23 1341 (relating to frauds and swindles), section 1342 

24 (relating to a fictitious name or address), section 

25 1343 (relating to fraud by wire, radio, or television), 


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1 or section 1344 (relating to bank fraud), if the fel2 ony violation is a tax-related offense punishable 

3 under such section; 

4 ‘‘(9) section 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986 (relating to fraud and false statements);’’. 

6 (b) PENALTY FOR MISAPPROPRIATION OF TAXPAYER

7 IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part I of subchapter B of 

9 chapter 68 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following new sec11 tion: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 6720D. MISAPPROPRIATION OF TAXPAYER IDENTI13 FICATION NUMBER. 

14 ‘‘In addition to any penalty provided by law, any per15 son who knowingly or willfully misappropriates another 

16 person’s taxpayer identification number in connection with 

17 any list, return, account, statement, or other document 

18 submitted to the Secretary shall pay a penalty of $5,000.’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

20 sections for part I of subchapter B of chapter 68 of 

21 such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 6720D. Misappropriation of taxpayer identification number.’’. 

23 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

24 by this subsection shall apply to returns and inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jul 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597

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1 mation submitted after the date of the enactment of 

2 this Act. 

Æ 


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